Garden tips, DIY and décor advice, green living tidbits and information for homesellers from GateHouse News Service. Home Help helps you prep your house for the seasons, find out ways to do chores and repairs better, and learn about new products for
...

Garden tips, DIY and décor advice, green living tidbits and information for homesellers from GateHouse News Service. Home Help helps you prep your house for the seasons, find out ways to do chores and repairs better, and learn about new products for your humble abode.

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American arborvitae - Smaragd variety

Feb. 1, 2013
12:01 a.m.

Did You Know...

Many electronic devices and equipment continue to consume unnecessary energy even when not in use. Often called energy vampires, these unplugged devices cost families about $100 a year. Use a power strip for electronic devices and turn it off when not in use to eliminate these energy vampires. And be sure to unplug your chargers -- they draw energy even when they aren’t connected to a device.

Hire a real estate agent who is agressive and well-known. Name recognition is important, especially in a buyers' market. Look for an agent with a good track record of selling houses.

-- Frontdoor.com

Garden Guide

The American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is an easy and adaptable evergreen that shines in the winter and can thrive in almost any landscape situation. Hundreds of cultivars have been introduced which allow this native, northeastern U.S. plant to fill almost any landscape niche.

From miniature selections like Mossy growing to just 1 foot tall and Hetz Midget growing to 2 feet to Green Giant growing up to 30 feet tall, these plants can fulfill many uses in the landscape. Cultivars also tolerate a range of soil conditions. American arborvitae can be found growing in the wild in swampy, damp conditions as well as in the dry cracks and crevices of rocky cliffs. It can equally tolerate a range of light conditions, thriving in light shade to full sun.

One of the favored features of American arborvitae is its fine foliage texture. The evergreen, scaly foliage grows in fan-like sprays making for a soft, fine texture. Some stellar selections are valued for their striking foliage colors, too, like the bright gold foliage of Yellow Ribbon, Lutea, and Sunkist; the orange-bronze color of Rheingold and Fire Chief; and the showy variegated foliage of Sherwood Frost and Wansdyke Silver. Consider a gold or variegated selection in your landscape to brighten up a winter garden.

Many different forms along with varied sizes and colors allow for a range of landscape uses of American arborvitae. For a privacy screen and nice backdrop plant, you can’t beat Green Giant, Smaragd Emerald Green and Degroot’s Spire. Round and spherical forms like Bowling Ball, Rheingold, and Hetz Midget make good foundation plants or good decorative container plants. Pyramidal forms such as Emerald Green, Sunkist, and Yellow Ribbon can make nice specimen or accent plants.